Numbers 19-21

Contemporary English Version

The Ceremony To Wash Away Sin

19 ^1-2 The Lord gave Moses and Aaron the following law:

The people of Israel must bring Moses a reddish-brown cow that has nothing wrong with it and that has never been used for plowing. ³ Moses will give it to Eleazar the priest, then it will be led outside the camp and killed while Eleazar watches. ⁴ He will dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the direction of the sacred tent. ⁵ Then the whole cow, including its skin, meat, blood, and insides must be burned. ⁶ A priest^[a] is to throw a stick of cedar wood, a hyssop^[b] branch, and a piece of red yarn into the fire.

⁷ After the ceremony, the priest is to take a bath and wash his clothes. Only then can he go back into the camp, but he remains unclean and unfit for worship until evening. ⁸ The man who burned the cow must also wash his clothes and take a bath, but he is also unclean until evening.

^9 (A) A man who isn't unclean must collect the ashes of the burnt cow and store them outside the camp in a clean place. The people of Israel can mix these ashes with the water used in the ceremony to wash away sin. ¹⁰ The man who collects the ashes must wash his clothes, but will remain unclean until evening. This law must always be obeyed by the people of Israel and the foreigners living among them.

What Must Be Done after Touching a Dead Body

The Lord said:

¹¹ If you touch a dead body, you will be unclean for seven days. ¹² But if you wash with the water mixed with the cow's ashes on the third day and again on the seventh day, you will be clean and acceptable for worship. You must wash yourself on those days; if you don't, you will remain unclean. ¹³ Suppose you touch a dead body, but refuse to be made clean by washing with the water mixed with ashes. You will be guilty of making my sacred tent unclean and will no longer belong to the people of Israel.

¹⁴ If someone dies in a tent while you are there, you will be unclean for seven days. And anyone who later enters the tent will also be unclean. ¹⁵ Any open jar in the tent is unclean.

¹⁶ If you touch the body of someone who died or was killed, or if you touch a human bone or a grave, you will be unclean for seven days.

^17-18 Before you can be made clean, someone who is clean must take some of the ashes from the burnt cow and stir them into a pot of spring water. That same person must dip a hyssop branch in the water and ashes, then sprinkle it on the tent and everything in it, including everyone who was inside. If you have touched a human bone, a grave, or a dead body, you must be sprinkled with that water. ¹⁹ If this is done on the third day and on the seventh day, you will be clean. Then after you take a bath and wash your clothes, you can worship that evening.

²⁰ If you are unclean and refuse to be made clean by washing with the water mixed with ashes, you will be guilty of making my sacred tent unclean, and you will no longer belong to the people of Israel. ²¹ These laws will never change.

The man who sprinkled the water and the ashes on you when you were unclean must also wash his clothes. And whoever touches this water is unclean until evening. ²² When you are unclean, everything you touch becomes unclean, and anyone who touches you will be unclean until evening.

Water from a Rock

20 The people of Israel arrived at the Zin Desert during the first month^[c] and set up camp near the town of Kadesh. It was there that Miriam died and was buried.

^2 (B) The Israelites had no water, so they went to Moses and Aaron ³ and complained, “Moses, we'd be better off if we had died along with the others in front of the Lord's sacred tent.^{[d] 4} You brought us into this desert, and now we and our livestock are going to die! ⁵ Egypt was better than this horrible place. At least there we had grain and figs and grapevines and pomegranates.^[e] But now we don't even have any water.”

⁶ Moses and Aaron went to the entrance to the sacred tent, where they bowed down. The Lord appeared to them in all of his glory ^7-8 and said, “Moses, get your walking stick.^[f] Then you and Aaron call the people together and command that rock to give you water. That's how you will provide water for the people of Israel and their livestock.”

⁹ Moses obeyed and took his stick from the sacred tent. ¹⁰ After he and Aaron had gathered the people around the rock, he said, “Look, you rebellious people, and you will see water flow from this rock!” ^11 (C) He raised his stick in the air and struck the rock two times. At once, water gushed from the rock, and the people and their livestock had water to drink.

¹² But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you refused to believe in my power, these people did not respect me. And so, you will not be the ones to lead them into the land I have promised.”

¹³ The Israelites had complained against the Lord, and he had shown them his holy power by giving them water to drink. So they named the place Meribah, which means “Complaining.”

Israel Isn't Allowed To Go through Edom

¹⁴ Moses sent messengers from Israel's camp near Kadesh with this message for the king of Edom:

We are Israelites, your own relatives, and we're sure you have heard the terrible things that have happened to us. ¹⁵ Our ancestors settled in Egypt and lived there a long time. But later the Egyptians were cruel to us, ¹⁶ and when we begged our Lord for help, he answered our prayer and brought us out of that land.

Now we are camped at the border of your territory, near the town of Kadesh. ¹⁷ Please let us go through your country. We won't go near your fields or vineyards, and we won't drink any water from your wells. We will stay on the main road^[g] until we leave your territory.

¹⁸ But the king of Edom answered, “No, I won't let you go through our country! And if you try, we will attack you.”

¹⁹ Moses sent back this message: “We promise to stay on the main road, and if any of us or our livestock drink your water, we will pay for it. We just want to pass through.”

²⁰ But the king insisted, “You can't go through our land!”

Then Edom sent out its strongest troops ²¹ to keep Israel from passing through its territory. So the Israelites had to go in another direction.

Aaron Dies

²² After the Israelites had left Kadesh and had gone as far as Mount Hor ²³ on the Edomite border, the Lord said, ²⁴ “Aaron, this is where you will die. You and Moses disobeyed me at Meribah, and so you will not enter the land I promised the Israelites. ²⁵ Moses, go with Aaron and his son Eleazar to the top of the mountain. ²⁶ Then take Aaron's priestly robe from him and place it on Eleazar. Aaron will die there.”

²⁷ Moses obeyed, and everyone watched as he and Aaron and Eleazar walked to the top of Mount Hor. ^28 (D) Moses then took the priestly robe from Aaron and placed it on Eleazar. Aaron died there.

When Moses and Eleazar came down, ²⁹ the people knew that Aaron had died, and they mourned his death for 30 days.

Israel Defeats the Canaanites at Hormah

21 ^(E) The Canaanite king of Arad lived in the Southern Desert of Canaan, and when he heard that the Israelites were on their way to the village of Atharim, he attacked and took some of them hostage.

² The Israelites prayed, “Our Lord, if you will help us defeat these Canaanites, we will completely destroy their towns and everything in them, to show that they belong to you.”^[h]

³ The Lord answered their prayer and helped them wipe out the Canaanite army and completely destroy their towns. That's why one of the towns is named Hormah, which means “Destroyed Place.”

Moses Makes a Bronze Snake

^4 (F) The Israelites had to go around the territory of Edom, so when they left Mount Hor, they headed south toward the Red Sea.^[i] But along the way, the people became so impatient ^5 (G) that they complained against God and said to Moses, “Did you bring us out of Egypt, just to let us die in the desert? There's no water out here, and we can't stand this awful food!”

⁶ Then the Lord sent poisonous snakes that bit and killed many of them.

⁷ Some of the people went to Moses and admitted, “It was wrong of us to insult you and the Lord. Now please ask him to make these snakes go away.”

Moses prayed, ⁸ and the Lord answered, “Make a snake out of bronze and place it on top of a pole. Anyone who gets bitten can look at the snake and be saved from death.”

^9 (H) Moses obeyed the Lord. And all of those who looked at the bronze snake lived, even though they had been bitten by the poisonous snakes.

Israel's Journey to Moab

¹⁰ As the Israelites continued their journey to Canaan, they camped at Oboth, ¹¹ then at Iye-Abarim in the desert east of Moab, ¹² and then in the Zered Gorge. ¹³ After that, they crossed the Arnon River gorge and camped in the Moabite desert bordering Amorite territory. The Arnon was the border between the Moabites and the Amorites. ¹⁴ A song in The Book of the Lord's Battles^[j] mentions the town of Waheb with its creeks in the territory of Suphah. It also mentions the Arnon River, ¹⁵ with its valleys that lie alongside the Moabite border and extend to the town of Ar.

¹⁶ From the Arnon, the Israelites went to the well near the town of Beer, where the Lord had said to Moses, “Call the people together, and I will give them water to drink.”

¹⁷ That's also the same well the Israelites sang about in this song:

The Israelites left the desert and camped near the town of Mattanah, ¹⁹ then at Nahaliel, and then at Bamoth. ²⁰ Finally, they reached Moabite territory, where they camped near Mount Pisgah^[k] in a valley overlooking the desert north of the Dead Sea.

Israel Defeats King Sihon the Amorite

(Deuteronomy 2.26-37)

²¹ The Israelites sent this message to King Sihon of the Amorites:

²² Please let us pass through your territory. We promise to stay away from your fields and vineyards, and we won't drink any water from your wells. As long as we're in your land, we'll stay on the main road.^[l]

²³ But Sihon refused to let Israel travel through his land. Instead, he called together his entire army and marched into the desert to attack Israel near the town of Jahaz. ²⁴ Israel defeated them and took over the Amorite territory from the Arnon River gorge in the south to the Jabbok River gorge in the north. Beyond the Jabbok was the territory of the Ammonites, who were much stronger than Israel.

²⁵ The Israelites settled in the Amorite towns, including the capital city of Heshbon with its surrounding villages. ²⁶ King Sihon had ruled from Heshbon, after defeating the Moabites and taking over their land north of the Arnon River gorge. ²⁷ That's why the Amorites had written this poem about Heshbon:

³¹ After the Israelites had settled in the Amorite territory, ³² Moses sent some men to explore the town of Jazer. Later, the Israelites captured the villages surrounding it and forced out the Amorites who lived there.

Israel Defeats King Og of Bashan

(Deuteronomy 3.1-11)

³³ The Israelites headed toward the region of Bashan, where King Og ruled, and he led his entire army to Edrei to meet Israel in battle.

³⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Don't be afraid of Og. I will help you defeat him and his army, just as you did King Sihon who ruled in Heshbon. Og's territory will be yours.”

³⁵ So the Israelites wiped out Og, his family, and his entire army—there were no survivors. Then Israel took over the land of Bashan.